Turbulent Minds
by Kerry1
Summary: This fic takes place straight after where Departure left off. Its not Max and Liz yet, but it will be! Part 4 - 7B now updated!
1. Default Chapter

Title: Turbulent Minds  
  
Author: Kerry  
  
Email: Whatever212@yahoo.com  
  
Disclaimer: Roswell is not mine, nor will it ever be.  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Feedback: Do a person needs air to breathe? Yes. Does a writer need feedback to keep writing? Most definitely!  
  
1 [b]Part One[/b]  
  
Focus.  
  
In.  
  
Out.  
  
In.  
  
Out.  
  
With every breath she took, the weight upon her shoulders grew even more devastating, the motion of breathing becoming not merely a necessity, but a sheer force of will. The shell in which she had been encased throughout the confrontation between Max and Tess shattered, scattering its pieces around her feet, exposed to the thoughtless wandering of a careless foot more than willing to grind.  
  
Her face expressionless, Liz Parker withdrew from Max's embrace, her arms turning cold even as she stepped back. She had watched with wide eyes as the world changed around her, its seeming innocence pierced and corrupted by the bitterness of deceit. Within the space of a few moments, the world had grown dark, disturbing as the reality dawned. It was a reality she had not yet accepted, her mind and body conflicted as her eyes saw one thing, yet her mind denied it.  
  
They all stood silently clustered in an informal circle, all eyes turned toward him, the one designated as their leader, needing answers to questions still too overwhelming to put into words.  
  
Yet, Max himself looked unseeing at the landscape spread out before him, the very image of that perfect hero whom had seemed to exist only in fairytales, one who was unblemished and undistorted by the cruelties and realities of the world around him.  
  
Looks can be deceiving, Liz knew. She knew it all too well.  
  
The words echoed about them, each syllable drawn out as though to taunt.  
  
"I have to save my son."  
  
Crunch.  
  
Grind.  
  
The group seemed to pulsate in reaction to the words, their bodies tense and their eyes wary. The recent weeks of stress were taking its toll, and almost everyone was becoming slowly but surely limp with exhaustion.  
  
"Liz?" Max turned to her, his shoulders slumping slightly as his eyes pleaded for her reassurance, her assertion that everything would be okay. His actions were automatic, as though a force other than himself had carried them out.  
  
Silently, Liz shook her head and turned to make her way down the path, feeling very isolated despite being surrounded by the group she was bound to, no matter her earlier attempts to escape from it. Vaguely, she was aware of Maria and Kyle, previously standing mutely aside, Maria clasped into the loving embrace of Michael, moving to flank her protectively, leaving the alien trio to fall in step behind them.  
  
Rocks moved noisily as they made their way down the slope, yet not another word was spoken as thoughts turned inward. A cloud of depression darkened what should have been joyous expressions on their faces. The aliens were not leaving Earth, and the group would remain together. Yet celebration was put on hold in light of the revelations only just discovered. The real reason behind Alex's death: Tess' deception.  
  
Numbly, Liz kept her eyes on the ground, watching her own footsteps with a fascination, which, under normal circumstances, would have worried her. Normal. Nothing was ever normal any more, and it was in this moment a part of Liz craved the simplicity she had lost that day in September.  
  
Lost in her own thoughts, the suddenness of a hand upon her arm startled her, and she spun around, her hand raised reflexively to defend, to protect. Either one. Her confused mind knew not. His eyes wide, Max stumbled backward, his mouth gaping open slightly as he took in the sight before him.  
  
His beautiful Liz, his dark haired goddess, now looked upon him as though she no longer saw him, her eyes large when set against her pale face and appearing as though lifeless. Desperately, Max took a step forward so as to ease the physical gap between them, yet instinctively knew that the emotional one would not be so easily bridged.  
  
"Liz, please. We need to talk." He kept his voice low, slightly wincing as she turned from him, acting as though his words had meant nothing. It was as though, Max realised, she did not even hear him.  
  
Maria snorted, her eyes lighting with a fire that the by standing Michael knew all too well. "Now is really not a good time, Max. You can save this for later." Tossing Michael a meaningful glance, she took Liz's unresisting arm and led her towards the waiting Jetta.  
  
When Max made a move to intercept, Kyle deliberately moved forward, shaking his head meaningfully, warningly.  
  
"That is not a good idea, Max," Kyle warned gruffly, his body tensing in reaction as Max took another step forward. "Liz has been through a lot because of you three – I think it is time for her to take some time off from all of this alien shit." His eyes pierced Max's soulful ones. The words that followed were unspoken, yet despite this, Max heard them loud and clear. "That especially means you."  
  
Max nodded slightly, defeated for this brief period of time at least. His eyes followed Liz as she got into the little red car, her face directed blankly out of the windshield. He swallowed thickly as Kyle got in behind her and, gently resting a hand upon her shoulder, received a grateful smile in return. The Jetta pulled away, leaving the three aliens to step back so as to avoid the churning dust left in its wake.  
  
"Well, there goes our ride," Isabel said, her eyes worried.  
  
Michael didn't pay any attention, his eyes focused on Max who continued to stare fixedly where Liz had once stood. "Its time to make a choice, Maxwell," he began, his words coming easily as his posture relaxed for the first time in weeks. "Are you going to fight for her? Get her to trust you again?"  
  
Max darted a disbelieving glance towards his best friend. "I sure as hell will!" His voice shook with his determination as his eyes turned flinty. Trust. It was something he had to regain; he had to work at it – and work at it he will.  
  
"I think you are missing the point here," Isabel said, her voice tinged with a whine. "We don't have a way to get back to Roswell!"  
  
The two young men looked out at where the Jetta could be seen disappearing into the horizon. In unison, they frowned.  
  
"Well, Isabel," Michael said, almost mischievously. "I hope you brought your walking shoes."  
  
The two boys shared a laugh at Isabel's groan before starting off down the path towards town.  
  
TBC 


	2. Part 2

1 bPart Two/b  
  
Two pairs of eyes watched her actions anxiously, unable to conceal the worry lurking within them. Such observation made Liz feel as though she had been placed under a microscope, her actions assessed, evaluated and found wanting. Inwardly, she sighed despondently. As soon as she had stepped into the Jetta, she had suspected that this would happen.  
  
After an uncomfortably silent trip to Roswell, Kyle and Maria had trailed her into her home; darting quick looks at each other which carried a seemingly unspoken communication that Liz heard loud and clear.  
  
"Must be careful with her. She is in shock. Why won't she say anything?"  
  
Liz shook her head, her breath shaking out of her body as she forced her legs to move around the room. She didn't feel like standing still at the moment – standing still meant having to think, and she didn't want to do that right now.  
  
"Liz," Maria spoke tentatively, shattering the gloom that hung over them all like a shroud. "Chica, are you okay?"  
  
At Liz's continual silence, Kyle placed his hand on the blonde's arm, his face earnest but hesitant. "Perhaps we should leave her alone…" His voice trailed off as Liz spoke suddenly, her voice unusually husky.  
  
"Guys, I'm fine…I just…I want to be alone right now." She glanced up, her eyes pleading. "Please, Maria, Kyle. Just go home. We can talk later." Liz forced a smile, knowing deep down inside that that was what they really wanted to see right now. They needn't know that the effort alone was killing her.  
  
Maria's curls bounced as she tilted her head, her narrow gaze sweeping Liz's form. "But you will call me if you need me…" she said, half in warning as she stepped forward in order to hug her friend. Liz nodded against her shoulder, and Maria squeezed her tightly.  
  
Maria knew her best friend, had known her since she was a little girl. Liz needed someone all right, but Maria wasn't that person. She stepped back and watched as Kyle swept her up in an embrace, whispering to her softly. Kyle, even if he wanted to be, just wasn't the person either. Disgruntled, Maria sighed. She knew who Liz really needed right now….and it was also the person whom Liz didn't need.  
  
However, if Maria knew Max and she prided herself on the fact that she did, as soon as he got back to Roswell, he would be climbing that fire escape ladder.  
  
"Thank you, Kyle," Liz smiled half heartedly as Kyle's murmurs of reassurance and threats of bodily harm towards one dark haired alien ebbed away. "I'll be fine," she stated again. "Just go and drop Kyle home, Maria. And…well, I guess you had better go pick them up."  
  
Kyle attempted a demonic laugh as he felt himself being pushed towards the front door by a short, mumbling blonde. "We can always leave them there," he suggested. "No one need ever know."  
  
Liz grinned, a little more genuinely this time. "Go!" she ordered, pointing out the door she held open for them. Pouting in mock disappointment, Kyle saluted as he left, leaving Maria to shout a quick bye before the door closed behind them.  
  
As soon as the door closed, Liz felt the smile drop from her face, and she sighed tiredly. The walk up to her room had never seemed so long.  
  
****  
  
The sunlight that filtered into her room quickly dimmed to darkness as Liz wandered about her room, her fingers reaching out to touch things as though rediscovering them. A frown puckered her brow as she moved almost dreamily, her steps taking her towards the brick wall within her bedroom. Her fingers itched to do something she had not been able to do in what felt like such a long time, her actions reminding her just how much she had missed it. It – committing her thoughts to paper, the words which never seem to come as easily as they had once she had written them down.  
  
Crouching low, Liz worked the brick from its place, her nails scratching against the hard texture. Her fingers played over the leather briefly in contemplation before she withdrew her journal from its hiding place.  
  
Instinctively, her steps took her out onto her balcony and she sat easily on the lawn chair that was so familiar yet somehow felt so different, her dark hair sweeping the pages as she began to write.  
  
'Sometimes,' she wrote 'it takes a tragic event to make you stop and realise, for your eyes to open to a truth you are too blind to see. The more important things in life that we all seem to take for granted. Shared laughter between friends; a long look that no one else appears to understand. I suppose this is one thing I should thank Tess for. Because of her, I have realised what is important...'  
  
She paused, her pen hovering in thought. Her judgment seemed so confused, a confusion that she thought not even writing could clear up. With a snap, she closed the book and threw it, all of her pent up anger behind the feat. The journal hit the wall with a thud, its pages rustling as it fell to the ground and lay there, neglected. Liz watched it all with impassive eyes.  
  
In hindsight, Liz had been expecting them, yet the words still had the power to startle her when she heard them carried upon the evening breeze. Her head rose and her body stiffened in reaction.  
  
"Liz, can I come up?"  
  
She thought that she said yes. She was sure that her lips moved to form the word, however, Liz herself could not hear it. Resigned, Liz had known that this moment would come; that she would have to step out of her self imposed cocoon and confront the world, yet part of her wished that she could remain in oblivion where the pain of the world would not reach for at least a little while longer.  
  
Liz must have spoken, as all too soon, the familiar dark head appeared above the top rung, an uncertain smile playing upon trembling lips. His feet thudded upon the ground, the only sound in a world that had suddenly gone quiet. He stood comfortably, despite his hesitant smile, and looked none the worse for wear from his little walk in the desert, even though Liz knew that Maria had gone back for them.  
  
Her gaze resolute, Liz stared at Max, who fidgeted uneasily under her gaze. His mouth opened before shutting without uttering a word.  
  
"I can imagine what you are feeling right now."  
  
The words shattered the silence. A car alarm shrieked into the night, a peal of obnoxious laughter rang out. The world continued to turn and Liz continued to breathe.  
  
Liz shook her head. "No, I don't think that you can." Part of her was somewhat incredulous that he could even say that. He had no idea what she was feeling right now, no idea at all.  
  
"Then speak to me, Liz," Max pleaded, his voice urgent. "Make me understand."  
  
With a steadfast glaze, Liz looked at him appraisingly. Her words rang harshly out into the night, uttered without mercy. "It feels as though you have killed me." It was a simple statement; one that came exploding from the depths of a soul she no longer believed she had. "My life doesn't mean anything without love, and it is that love that it feels as though you have destroyed."  
  
Max paled, the colour leeching out of his face so quickly; he was a stark white within a few seconds. "Liz!" he cried, anguished. "God, you would not believe how sorry I am. I've made so many mistakes…."  
  
Without another word, Liz turned and climbed through her window, instinctively putting much needed distance between them and halted, her eyes staring unseeing as Max's stricken face appeared within the opening.  
  
"You look so much like you did when you came to me," Liz remarked dreamily, only half aware of what she was saying as her memories loomed painfully.  
  
Max shook his head. "What?" he asked, completely confused.  
  
Her eyes focused once again on him, sharpening quickly as total realisation took hold. "Everything was for nothing!" she spat, her voice shaking with her dismayed anger. "No matter what I did, what I sacrificed, she left anyway!" Her chest rose and fell quickly with her harsh breathing and Liz closed her eyes, trying to restrain herself.  
  
Max felt his eyebrows rise at Liz's inexplicable anger. Everything was for nothing? He quite honestly had no idea what she was talking about. "Liz," he began patiently, unwilling to incur her wrath. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you are talking about."  
  
Her eyes shot daggers as she focused upon him, her lips curling into a sneer. "Your precious Tess," she snarled, the anger she had contained suddenly exploding.  
  
Max's head snapped back as though she had sucker punched him. "'My precious Tess'?" he echoed, reaching out to gently move her aside in order to enter her bedroom via the window. He pretended to ignore the way Liz shook off his touch and stormed over to the other side of the room. "Liz, Tess is….I mean, Tess was….does this have anything to do with you and Kyle?" he asked hesitantly. "I mean, you said that…that you had saved…" he blushed, unable to repeat the words she had spoken with such disappointment. The mere thought of the words had the power to revoke the feelings of shame and dishonour within him. He watched as Liz's dark hair flew around her shoulders as she marched past him, slightly startled when she stopped abruptly in front of her full length mirror.  
  
With a hand that trembled slightly, she reached out and touched the reflection of a person she didn't recognise, the face that she thought she had known so well, twisted with anger that she had never felt before. The image terrified her and the sight had an instant effect. Feeling as though a pail of cold water had been splashed over her, her anger dissipated as quickly as it had arrived, and Liz's shoulders slumped slightly as feelings of despair nearly overwhelmed her. Raising her eyes, Liz met Max's confused ones within the reflection.  
  
"Sit down, Max," she spoke tiredly, her emotions too jumbled to discern a single one. Helplessness, confusion, dejection: together, they whirled around and around her mind without stopping.  
  
Looking around cautiously, Max perched atop her bed, his eyes dull with pain. Liz remained where she was, unable to move to sit beside him as she once would have.  
  
"What's wrong, Liz?" Max asked quietly. "Please tell me."  
  
Liz swallowed, strangely nervous despite herself. "I didn't sleep with Kyle, Max. I never have."  
  
Max released his breath as a huge gust, the words ricocheting around him. "I didn't sleep with Kyle." "I didn't sleep with Kyle." His entire body seemed to go limp with relief at the confirmation.  
  
Liz smiled sadly at his reaction, so obvious were the emotions flickering across his face. "But you already knew that," she told him, letting him see her own pain caused by having to lie to him.  
  
Shakily, Max raised his hand and, despite herself, Liz placed her own within it. Tugging her forward, his expressive eyes gazed up into hers. "Why?" he asked hoarsely. "Why pretend, why…?" He shook his head, unable to finish.  
  
With her free hand and unable to help herself, she trailed her fingers down his cheek, smiling as he leaned into the caress. "Because you told me to."  
  
Max was still, his hand, amidst capturing Liz's fingers cradling his cheek, held up between them. "What?" he asked, his tone incredulous.  
  
"I did it because you told me to," Liz responded patiently. "It wasn't the you that I see before me…it was you 14 years from the future."  
  
He felt his heart give a little leap from within his chest. "Liz…" he begun, his words interrupted by a quick shake of her head.  
  
"Max, I'm not crazy. Hear me out. Please." She waited until he nodded before continuing. "The night that you had come to serenade me, I had known that you were coming. I wasn't alone on my balcony…you were already there with me," she choked slightly and allowed herself to be guided onto the bed beside him before continuing, her voice stronger. "I had been standing in front of my mirror, playing……well," she blushed, "it isn't important. I remember it was as though everything had suddenly gone quiet for some reason, and I could feel the hairs at the back of my neck prickle. Perhaps I knew that something was about to happen, something big. Then, I heard a noise outside my window. Dread filled me as I went to see what it was, and there you were….only you were different. Older. Longer hair." Liz unconsciously allowed admiration to creep into her voice. "Wearing leather."  
  
She cleared her throat when Max raised an eyebrow. "I was convinced that he was a Skin, a shape shifter – anyone than who he really claimed to be. Max: 14 years from the future. It was like from a bad science fiction movie. I didn't want to believe, and I denied it all, saying that time travel was impossible. It was then when he told me about the serenade, the white roses. He wanted to convince me that he was speaking the truth…and he stood there as everything came true. I had to believe, I had to trust him."  
  
Dread overwhelmed Max as he watched Liz discreetly wipe a tear away. He yearned to do it for her, yet something about her stopped him. She sat there, beside him, looking as fragile as glass and completely untouchable. Every so often, her body would tremble with the still raw memory.  
  
"Tell me why I was there, Liz," Max prodded, wishing to get it over and done with.  
  
She drew in a deep breath, her skin translucent in the moonlight. "He wanted me to change it…to change the future. A future where you and I could never be." She placed her hand over his mouth when his eyes flashed, his intention to speak clear. "No," she said, sharply. "Let me finish. I need to do this quickly. Max, he told me that 20 minutes before he had come to me, he had been holding Michael in his arms, dead…"  
  
Max's eyes widened as they filled with shock. "No!" he exclaimed, his breath coming fast. Another devastating thought occurred to him, and he shook his head, almost afraid to ask.  
  
Her eyes sad, Liz confirmed what he had only just begun to suspect. "Isabel had been killed two weeks before."  
  
Max bent over as though he had had the breath knocked out of him. "God," he groaned raggedly. "Why? How could this have happened?"  
  
"You were weak. Your powers weren't as strong with only the three of you…" Liz heard her voice go brittle as Max looked up at her dubiously. "Tess had left Roswell, taking with her your chances of gaining real power. She had left because…because we, you and I, were together. In every sense," she stressed, painfully but needing to get it said. "We had gotten married when we turned 19."  
  
His breath caught. Married? "And I came back…" he said slowly.  
  
"To stop Tess from ever leaving, to keep the four of you together. And in order to do this, he asked for my help. He wanted to stop us from ever getting together…because that is what caused everything to begin with." She shook her head, her voice quiet. "The end of the world."  
  
"No!" Max growled, standing abruptly from his seat and pacing the room angrily. "I don't believe this! How could it be that because of two people, the end of the world was brought about?"  
  
Liz felt helpless in the face of his anger. "Max, I don't know – I just know that is the way it happened, and that we had to stop it. That is why I set everything up with Kyle. My first attempt hadn't worked…" she nodded grimly in response to the realisation dawning in Max's eyes. "Yes, my speech about wanting normal boys, it was all a lie. I even went to Tess….but nothing was working. My pretending to be with Kyle was the last straw. I knew that you were going to arrive that night with Gomez tickets…and I knew that it was important that I not go on that date with you. You see, it was that night, future Max told me, that sealed everything between us. It was the night that we first made love."  
  
Max felt his ear tinge with pink as he remembered that night. His excitement mixed with nervousness, his love for Liz. He remembered how he had carefully placed a condom in his wallet…only to throw it away after seeing Liz with Kyle, bitter tears streaming down his face. It wasn't long after that Tess had stumbled across him….Tess…  
  
He felt his stomach sink in realisation and, desperately, he whirled about. "Liz, what happens now? Tess has left Roswell anyway." Momentarily distracted, he felt his lips curl into a sneer as he thought of her betrayal.  
  
"I don't know," Liz whispered.  
  
Max looked grim, his brow furrowed with thought. Inwardly, he damned his future self whom had complicated things so thoroughly, causing such pain to so many people. Wincing, he thought back to all of the horrible things he had said to Liz, done to Liz. Words spoken in anger, actions made in haste…..sleeping with Tess…. He felt sick at the thought, his own unintentional betrayal to his feelings for Liz. Liz, whom he had to make up so much for.  
  
Striding over to her, he clasped her hand and drew her towards him. "Liz, I have so much to apologise for…I don't even know where to start," he murmured hurriedly. He swallowed thickly, his words a desperate plea. "Liz, you have to give me a second chance…an opportunity to prove myself, to prove to you that you can trust me again. We can work through this, I know that we can. Please, believe me! I never wanted to hurt you…."  
  
Liz's eyes never faltered as she withdrew her hand from his grasp. "Max," Liz spoke sharply, her face angular with the determination she could feel rising within her. He halted mid sentence, startled at her sudden interruption. "I'm not going to get back together with you," she told him with brutal honesty, urging herself to continue even as Max's face seemed to collapse with distress. "Not yet, anyway," she added, pushing him gently towards the window. She had told him all that she needed to, now she needed time alone. She had to think this through, work out what she wanted, what she needed.  
  
"But, Liz," Max protested, his voice shaking slightly.  
  
Liz shook her head. "Max, last year, you said that we needed to take a step back in order for you to regain your balance and I did that. I did it for you. Circumstances are different now, and now it is time for me to regain my own balance. Max, I need this….I need this space from you right now. Everything has just collapsed around me and I need the time to figure it all out. You, of all people, should understand that."  
  
Numbly, Max nodded. Yes, he remembered all too well the night he had appeared on this same balcony, asking for time. He remembered the confusion he had felt, overwhelming his senses.  
  
He looked into her troubled eyes and saw someone completely different. She had lost the innocence and joy that had once cloaked her, leaving a stranger in its place. Inwardly, he mourned the loss and felt anger directed towards himself for the part he had played in innocence lost.  
  
"If that is what you want," Max said hoarsely, climbing back out the window to crouch beside the sill.  
  
She followed him to the window and stood there, an invisible barrier seemingly between them.  
  
"That is what I need," she whispered, her eyes resolute.  
  
Their words echoed that of a night long ago, the memory sobering the pair. So much was still unresolved, yet the pain of stepping back overwhelmed every other thought. Tess, the baby…everything was put to the side as they gazed into each other's eyes for one brief moment.  
  
Max nodded once briskly and stood, making his way towards the ladder.  
  
"Max," Liz called behind him, causing him to halt his steps.  
  
"You may want to think yourself…of what you really want."  
  
Max turned, his crooked smile gleaming from the darkness. "Liz, this isn't finished, not by a long shot. Before I am done, you will realise that is the one thing that will never change. What I want….it is always you."  
  
The image of a curly haired blonde flashed in her mind, its passage breaking her heart and sadly, Liz waited until the sound of his car driving off into the night echoed around her before whispering. "Not always."  
  
TBC 


	3. Part 3

1 I apologise for the lateness of posting this – I have been very busy lately, and I haven't really had a chance to surf the Net. In answer to questions, yes, I'm aware that I got Liz to tell Max twice – but I thought that in the series the importance of what she had done was glossed over to advance the storyline. So I thought that it was important to go over it again.  
  
Secondly, I've written 17 parts of this fic so far, so I'll be posting a part every day if I can.  
  
Okay, on with the story!  
  
2  
  
3 bPart Three/b  
  
From sound sleep, Liz's eyes blinked open, staring unrelentingly into the darkness. Without her even realising it at first, the sensation being so mild to begin with, the hairs on the back of her neck began to prickle and her entire body filled with dread….excitement…fear. Liz wasn't sure.  
  
Something was going to happen tomorrow, she knew.  
  
Something big.  
  
****  
  
Heavily laden with plates of food, Liz moved through the restaurant easily, her motions borne of years of practice. Smiling, she headed towards table 4, where hungry patrons awaited impatiently for their Men In Black burgers. In mid step, Liz faltered, her senses spiking as though struck by an electrical force. Instantly, her grip loosened in reflex and, her mouth pursed into an O, Liz watched as the dishes fell, flipping through the air as though performing their own aerobatics, determined to out do the other. Helpless, Liz could do nothing but observe as they met with the floor, shattering upon impact. The resounding crash echoed throughout the restaurant, startling more than a few customers as their heads spun to stare at Liz accusingly for disturbing their peace.  
  
"Liz!" Kyle rushed over from where he had sat awaiting his meal, his eyes searching her frame anxiously. "Are you okay?" he asked, taking her hand and looking into her eyes. Liz remained where she was, despite Kyle's frantic grasping, her hands poised as though still carrying the plates she had once held, her eyes unblinking.  
  
"Liz!"  
  
"Liz!"  
  
"Can you hear me?"  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
The voice sounded urgent, desperation becoming more so with every word, yet Liz felt as though she were apart from it. Darkness teased the edges of her mind and the world around her buzzed with immeasurable energy. It felt as though she were falling…falling…and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Her stomach heaved as she plummeted, fear rising into her throat and choking her. Her eyes fluttering closed, Liz could feel power swirl around her, clouding her roaring senses and cloaking reality with its seduction. It teased the boundaries of her consciousness before rushing at her, bent on overwhelming. Liz cried out in shock as the flurry rocked her.  
  
A light flashed, blinding her for a moment and she flinched, recoiling against the intense brightness. A face appeared before her, grainy and indistinct, yet Liz felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity. She could feel the urgency that emitted from the face, could feel its desperation and her mouth moved, trying to form words. Her vision blurred, and Liz cried out again, attempting in vain to focus in on the face.  
  
Disorientated by her efforts, Liz stumbled backwards, only vaguely aware of hands reaching forth to steady her. Kyle, she recognised dimly and stiffened. Kyle. She could feel him, sense him. She could somehow see inside him.  
  
Panic. Fear. Concern. They all meld into one.  
  
The intensity of the emotions gave Liz little choice. Her mind opened, accepting as a light flickered behind her eyes. If she could only…  
  
"Liz!"  
  
The loud shout startled Liz and instantly, the fog retreated as the spell broke. Dazed, Liz opened her eyes, feeling as though she had just lost something…something she hadn't truly realised existed until this moment. instantaneously, she was acutely aware of the slivers of energy running through her, all over her body.  
  
A sharp intake of breath beside her made her look up in query. A pair of stunned brown eyes met hers.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Kyle whispered, his voice shaky.  
  
Liz shook her head, speechless. She had no idea what it was or even how it had been started. Her loss of control over herself frightened her, however, she had felt no fear of the power itself. Something whispered in the back of her mind, but Liz ignored it, her eyes sending a desperate message for Kyle to keep silent. Sluggishly, she moved away from Kyle, who dropped his hands back to his sides limply. He continued to stare at her, his brow furrowed in confusion and concern.  
  
"Liz? Are you okay?" Maria skidded to a stop beside her, her eyebrows arched in anxiety. Her gaze flickered between Kyle and Liz, both of whom watched each other as though unable to look away. "Hello? Am I in some kind of vacuum? What is wrong with you two?"  
  
Distracted, Kyle tore his eyes away from Liz and turned to the blonde who watched them both with apprehension edging on annoyance. "Liz just…." He began to speak.  
  
"Nothing, Maria," Liz butted in, shooting Kyle a warning glance. "Nothing is wrong, I'm just embarrassed that I made such a mess." She gave a tentative smile that was somewhat shaky around the edges.  
  
Instantly concerned, Maria took her arm and led her towards the back room, motioning to a nearby hovering waitress to clean up the mess. Frowning, Kyle followed.  
  
Liz raised a trembling hand to her forehead. "I'm fine, Maria, Kyle. I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."  
  
Maria looked sympathetic. "Max came to see you, didn't he." Her voice didn't rise in question, as it normally would have, because Maria knew that he did. Liz's pale face was complimented by the shadows under her eyes, indicating a restless night. A restless night attested to a Max visit, Maria knew.  
  
Kyle looked furious, his tanned face flushing red. "He did what? Liz, I told that jerk to stay away from you, to give you time!" His eyes searched hers worriedly and he did not like what he saw. His jaw clenched. When he got his hands on that….  
  
Liz shook her head, placing a comforting hand on Kyle's arm. "No, Kyle. He was right to come and see me…and I'm glad that he did. I told him," she said simply. "I told him everything, about the Max from the future, about me sleeping with Kyle…he knows everything now."  
  
Maria nodded, draping a comforting arm along her friend's shoulders. Kyle, on the other hand, looked confused.  
  
"Max from the future?" he echoed in confusion.  
  
Smiling faintly, Liz shook her head at Kyle. "We have to have a meeting," she stated simply.  
  
Maria looked startled, as though the thought had only just occurred to her. "You have to tell them," she said to Liz.  
  
Liz nodded in response, her eyes resigned.  
  
Watching the two girls leave to spread the news to the group, Kyle followed them, muttering quietly to himself. "Max from the future?"  
  
****  
  
The Valenti residence was silent, the words just spoken weighting heavily in the air around them as full comprehension dawned. The reason behind the tension that had been, and continues to be, palatable between Max and Liz, despite the civility, had now been revealed…and it was more than anyone had expected.  
  
Liz kept her eyes focused firmly upon the ground, relieved to finally have her story out into the open. In the back of her mind, she was constantly aware of the threat of an unknown future they currently had to face, even more uncertain now that Tess had been discovered traitor.  
  
"Liz, wow," Isabel said, hopelessly, unsure on how to react to the seemingly fragile creature who had taken on so much for them. "There is so much we have to thank you for." Her disbelieving eyes travelled the room, focusing in on Max, who did not seem surprised at all by Liz's revelations, to Michael, who appeared to be watching the dark haired girl as though she were something unexpected.  
  
Liz raised her eyes and met Isabel's tentative smile with one of her own. "That's not what I did it for, Isabel," Liz remarked quietly. "I did it because it was right. I couldn't stand aside and watch everything, everything that I loved," her eyes rose to Max's and quickly fell, as though ashamed of the betraying action, "be destroyed, when it was something that I could have prevented," she finished. She took a deep breath, her heart twisting painfully. "I'm not proud of what I had to do to accomplish it, and the pain that I had to cause. But I am glad that I did it." Glad…except for one thing, she added silently. Alex. Thrusting back her shoulders, she told herself that she would deal with it later.  
  
Isabel felt her eyes brim with tears. "Liz….thank you….I don't think I could ever tell you how much….." She cleared her throat, her smile becoming somewhat self mocking. "I know that we haven't been the very image of appreciation, and some would probably call us a bit selfish."  
  
Maria snorted. "A bit?" she queried silently to Kyle, mouthing the words.  
  
"But I do thank you…all of you," Isabel finished after darting a glance at the snickering Maria and Kyle. They sobered as Isabel's voice rang with sincerity. "I appreciate all that you have done for us, stood by us, often without us asking for it."  
  
"And sometimes with danger to yourselves," Max stepped forward, smiling gently at his sister before turning his attention on the three humans who had gone so long without being recognised for all that they had done. Max acknowledged to himself that this was long overdue, that the flurry of activity the group had been involved in left little time for appreciation. "We are glad to have you…not only because you know our secret, this has gone beyond that now. But because you are friends."  
  
Liz smiled at Max's simple statement, which he had spoken with such seriousness. She glanced over at Maria and Kyle, both of whom nodded in acknowledgement, smiling to themselves. She knew that the process would be slow, but the building of trust had once again begun, hopefully this time, the trust would remain.  
  
The room fell silent as all eyes turned discreetly toward Michael.  
  
Michael looked somewhat uncomfortable under the attention, his face tinging slightly pink. He opened his mouth before silently closing it, clearing his throat. He tried again. "Thanks," he said, his voice gruff.  
  
Maria rolled her eyes. "Michael!" she hissed, jabbing her elbow into his side and causing him to shy away from her. Apologetically, she shrugged her shoulders at Liz and Liz smiled back, shaking her head gently as though she had expected such a response from Michael.  
  
"So what does this mean for us now, as in the timeline before compared to the timeline as it is currently? Tess has left in both," Kyle asked, looking at Liz.  
  
Liz raised her shoulders, allowing them to fall into a graceful shrug. "I don't know. Max…future Max, that is…he had said that the future had already changed because of what I had done. Perhaps I had changed it enough that Tess's leaving doesn't matter." Unhappily, even as she spoke the words, she doubted her own sincerity.  
  
The group sat quietly for a moment, soberly pondering what lay ahead of them. The sun dipped beyond the horizon, casting dark shadows across their faces which were already lined in thought. Sighing, Kyle stood up and turned a light on, leaving the occupants of the room to blink at the brightness.  
  
"What I don't understand," Maria said quietly, "is how Tess could have fooled us all so thoroughly."  
  
All around, the group flinched, Liz herself included. Tess was a touchy subject yet to be properly breeched, her deception not fully discussed. Unconsciously, her eyes drifted towards Max where he sat with this head down, his face pale.  
  
"She told me that Nasedo had betrayed us 40 years ago, making an agreement with the Skins, and it certainly didn't sound like she was against the idea," Max said quietly, not quite meeting anyone's eyes. "From the beginning, she had been working against us."  
  
Isabel choked, recalling that she had been the first to bring Tess into their group, unknowing of the trouble that she would bring with her.  
  
Liz frowned. "But that doesn't add up," she said. "She should have already been in the pod 40 years ago. Nasedo couldn't have guaranteed that he would gain access to her, and she would have been vital to infiltrate the group. They would have needed someone who would be around us constantly." Liz sat back in her chair, her frown deepening slightly. She had no idea where she had gotten that from, hadn't had any idea of what she was going to say, even as her mouth opened. Yet now that the words were out, there was a rightness about them.  
  
Max looked up, his eyes startled. "I didn't….I guess I just wasn't thinking all too clearly when she told me, because I didn't realise…"  
  
Liz lent forward, her voice urgent. "Tell me again, the day that you came out of the pods."  
  
Max nodded in agreement, matching Liz's movements and leaning forward himself. "When we came out, we were all slimy from the pods. Briefly, I remember hesitating along side Tess' pod as Isabel and Michael made their way outside. I felt…regret that I was leaving her behind, yet I followed them out anyway…."  
  
Liz stared at Max incredulously. "Max, sorry to interrupt so quickly, but what are you talking about?"  
  
Max frowned, his eyebrow raising. "I'm telling you how…"  
  
Liz cut him short quickly. "No, Max. You have told me what it was like to come out of the pods before, and this was completely different."  
  
"But this is the way that we remember it, Liz," Isabel protested, worried. Michael remained silent, yet when Liz glanced over to him, he nodded in affirmation.  
  
Liz merely shook her head. Something felt wrong, yet she did not know what it was. A little voice inside of her was whispering, raising her hackles and her suspicions. She smiled weakly at the group who all watched her anxiously. "Perhaps, I was wrong. I might not be remembering correctly what Max told me."  
  
Max's worried brown eyes watched her carefully. "Maybe we should call it a night," he announced, standing from his seat. "I'm sure that we are all tired, and our parents are probably wondering where we are."  
  
Murmuring quietly, the group rose as though a whole, now connected not only by the secret that they shared, but also by a burgeoning friendship Liz was beginning to fear they would never have in light of months just past.  
  
Her manner appeared good-natured while she said goodbye to them all and rode home with Maria and Michael, however, the turmoil rolled within her. And all the while, the voice whispered. 


	4. Part 4

1 [b]Part Four[/b]  
  
Michael's eyes followed the measured walk Liz displayed as she waved goodbye and turned, heading up to the apartment above the Crashdown. Her slight shoulders were slumped; much in the same way he had seen Maxwell's do so many times before – as though they had the weight of the world resting upon their shoulders. He winced, recalling the grudging thank you he had offered Liz in light of what she had told them that night, remembering every effort she had made which he had accepted as though his due, feeling the pang of guilt. Michael could feel Maria's burning gaze boring into the back of his head, and he rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what she wanted and knowing that he would do it, despite the fact that touchy feelies weren't his thing. Sighing, he got out of the car and strode after the brunette, taking the steps two at a time in order to reach her before she closed and locked the door.  
  
At hearing the footsteps, Liz stuck her head out of the door she had been in the process of closing, her eyebrows raised in query. "Michael?" She glanced behind him, expecting to see Maria hovering there. "Is everything okay?" She opened the door further and stepped back, wordlessly inviting him inside.  
  
"No, everything is fine." Michael glanced around the room, distractedly. "Maria is waiting for me in the car, I'm going over to her place to watch some movies while her mom is on a date with the Sheriff." Mentally, he slapped a hand upon his forehead in disgust. He was babbling nervously, not unlike Maria, he realised and cut short his words. He took a deep breath and frowned. He didn't know what he was so nervous about; after all, it wasn't like he needed her acceptance or friendship. Nevertheless, even as he assured himself, part of him was calling himself a liar.  
  
Awkwardly, Michael cleared his throat, his attempt at acting nonchalant failing dismally. "Liz, I came up here because…well, I wanted to thank you for everything you have done for me, for us," he spoke the words quickly and shifted uncomfortably underneath Liz's incredulous stare. He was only just getting used to opening up to Maria, and, right now, he had a feeling that he was going about this all wrong. Inwardly trying to maintain his unruffled indifference, Michael opened his mouth to try and clarify what he had meant. "I guess I had never really thought about it before, the way it is for you, Maria and everyone else." He laughed, its ring bitter. "Our fight has become yours, and at a time when you all could have turned your backs on us, you have really come through," he broke off suddenly, hearing so clearly the admiration in his own voice. "Well, what I am really trying to say is…I wouldn't want a better group of people at my back than all of you," he finished inelegantly.  
  
Speechless, Liz could not keep the surprise from her voice, no matter how much she tried. "Thank you, Michael," she smiled, her eyes sincere. "Coming from you….well, it means a lot to me."  
  
He studied her uncertainly, yet saw nothing but genuineness in return, and felt as though his words had been accepted with an open heart. It made him feel…good. Actually, it made him feel great. Michael smiled back widely, all thoughts of cool detachment out of the window in response to such acquiescence. "Really?"  
  
Smiling just as widely as he was, Liz nodded as his eyes lit up and, for a moment, she could see exactly what Michael always fought to hide - the caring and sensitive nature he tried to pretend that he did not have, his craving for acceptance that he always fought to conceal.  
  
Clearing his throat, he attempted to reconstruct his manly exterior. "Well, that's good. I mean, I just wanted you to know that if you ever need me, I'll be there for you…you know….if you…..anything at all," he stuttered.  
  
Liz felt her eyes well with grateful tears as she watched Michael stammer and shift his feet. Her friendship with Michael, which had always been somewhat fragile, had come a long way in recent weeks, from barely there to…well, not so barely there. A surge of sentiment swept her as she realised the full importance of this moment – he was accepting her into his own circle, one that only included Max, Isabel and Maria. It was one that included those people of whom held his complete trust.  
  
"Oh Michael," she murmured and stepped forward, grasping him into a hug. For a moment, he merely stood there, his posture stiff before his arms moved around her…and squeezed her tightly.  
  
"Thank you," she whispered into his chest, and knew that he had smiled.  
  
****  
  
Stepping down the stairs, Michael felt better than he had in weeks. Walking to the Jetta, he felt the full force of Maria's curious gaze upon him, unrelenting. Getting in the car with a non-committal sound, he busied himself by fiddling with his seat belt, trying to hide his smile as he avoided her stare. He almost laughed at the frustration that emitted from his girlfriend in waves.  
  
"Well?" she burst out, reaching over to start up the car. "How did it go? Did you speak to her? Of course you did," she muttered, answering her own question hurriedly. "I've been waiting here for almost fifteen minutes…how did it go?"  
  
Looking over, he smiled, knowing too well that he could not hide the feeling of happiness from her.  
  
"Well," he answered softly, glancing over to his bubbling girlfriend. "It went well."  
  
****  
  
He should have known that there would be no escaping the elder Hurricane Deluca, Michael pondered as he impatiently paced Maria's room. He had already been waiting for 20 minutes, his eyes moving across the eclectic assembly of personal items that Maria treasured, as Amy consulted her daughter on what to wear on her date that night. Getting out while the getting was good, Michael scampered into Maria's room, feeling all the while Amy's warning stare burning the back of his neck. He grinned for a moment. It was one trait her daughter had picked up from her well. But now he was standing here, alone and bored. He breathed in deeply, taking in all of the herbal fragrances that Maria constantly hauled around with her, scents that never failed to remind him that she was his girlfriend, quirks and all.  
  
He passed by her dresser, his long artists fingers breezing gently against the napkin holder he had made for her, placed carefully in the centre of the table top.  
  
Signing, he threw himself upon her bed, bouncing once lightly when he landed, being careful not to get his grimy boots on her donah. Stretching, his hand brushed against a book perched precariously upon the bed and he moved quickly before it fell.  
  
Holding the book in front of him, he felt his lip curl as he took in the couple on the front cover, entwined in a seductive pose. Michael snorted, throwing it down beside him in disgust. He hadn't known that Maria had read that crap. Romance novels. Silently, he sneered.  
  
Bored, he jiggled his foot, wondering what was taking Maria so long. Surely it didn't take this long to pick out one outfit. Michael sighed, jiggling his foot even faster. His eyes shifted towards the book that lay beside him, its front cover seemingly beckoning. Hesitantly, Michael reached out and brought the book in front of him again. Well, he was bored, he inwardly shrugged, so….he turned to the front page.  
  
Suddenly, a door slammed and Michael jumped, startled.  
  
"God, I never thought that she would stop talking!" Maria exclaimed, bursting into the room with her usual flair.  
  
Scrambling quickly, Michael shoved the book which he had been engrossed in behind a pillow, looking up guiltily as Maria halted mid step.  
  
"What are you doing?" Maria asked, her voice mild. Her blond hair flew around her shoulders as she tilted her head, looking him over carefully.  
  
"Nothing," Michael blustered, smiling to ease the suspicion.  
  
Maria eyed him for a moment longer before she shrugged, moving toward the dresser to place her purse on it. "Mom just wouldn't let me go, wanting to show me outfit after outfit. I tell you, I don't know why she is so nervous about this date with the Sheriff tonight," Maria paused, her head tilted in thought before she screwed her nose up. "Actually, on second thought, I don't want to know!"  
  
Content, Michael crossed his arms behind his head and smiled as Maria continued to ramble.  
  
"I'm so glad that you and Liz have now become 'official'," Maria grinned, utilising air quotes to make her point "friends," she continued, blissfully veering off from her original topic. Moving across the room, she settled in beside Michael, smiling when his arm snaked around her. "I mean, you are my two best friends…just like Alex …" her smile dimmed and Michael squeezed her in comfort. "And I want you to get along," she finished, smiling up at him.  
  
He nodded, pleased as well. It was about time he had let her in, he knew, not just for Maria's sake, but also for his own. If he had known that it was going to be so easy….  
  
"By the way," Maria broke in on his thoughts. "There is a sequel to the book that you were reading. Once you have finished the first, I can lend you the second if you like."  
  
Embarrassed, Michael felt his face flame red. How had she known? "I….It was…." He protested before giving in, smiling sheepishly. "Thanks," he muttered.  
  
Maria grinned, knowing her boyfriend too well. "You're welcome, sweetie," she chirped and leaned forward to kiss him. 


	5. Part 5

1 [b]Part Five[/b]  
  
Lost in thought, Liz stared blindly down at the menus she was meant to be reviewing, the words blurring together to form a meaningless mass of black. Without even realising it, she frowned, her hand rising to rub absently at her puckering brow as an overwhelming feeling of peculiarity came over her. Something felt strange. Her eyes traced to the spot where, just the day before, she had felt the rush of sensations that she had still yet to fully comprehend.  
  
Inwardly, Liz wondered at why she had not told Max and the others about it, why she had silently implored Kyle to keep silent. Mentally rolling her eyes, she conceded that there was no reason to keep it a secret, especially when she didn't even know what "it" was! Nodding her head, she resolved that she will tell them all at first opportunity, unwilling to keep yet another secret that could damage the fragile friendship the group was forming.  
  
Tiredly, she yawned and fought to keep her eyes open, attempting in vain to focus on the sheets of paper in front of her. She had thought that her revelations the night before, as well as her new found friendship with Michael, would leave her feeling relieved, yet last night as she lay in bed, she had found herself staring up into the darkness, sleep becoming the last thing on her mind. Liz had felt as though she were poised on the verge of something….  
  
"Well if it isn't the girl who saved the world." The words were rumbled teasingly beside Liz, causing her to lose her train of thought as she jumped, startled. She looked up and was greeted by Kyle's grin beaming brightly, the complete opposite of the furtive tone he had used.  
  
"Hi, Kyle," Liz welcomed him, gratefully taking a break from the menus, slightly grimacing as she did so. Her father was not going to be pleased that she was still to get them done, as he had been after her for a week to finish them. 'Later' she told herself and idly, allowed her eyes to travel across the almost empty café as Kyle sat on the stool beside her.  
  
Poking curiously at the menus with an index finger, Kyle looked up to search her face intently. "That was some bomb you dropped last night," he stated quietly, watching her carefully. "How are you holding up?"  
  
Taking a moment to consider, Liz swivelled her chair, turning to face him full on. "I'm doing okay," she said slowly. "I'm just relieved, I guess, that I was finally able to tell everyone the truth." She smiled wanly for a moment, her thoughts momentarily flickering towards her forced deception. "You wouldn't believe how hard it was to keep that secret from M…..everyone and after all," she shrugged. "I suppose there wasn't much point of concealing it any longer."  
  
They sat in silence for a moment, pondering her words. Placing her hand on his arm, Liz smiled when Kyle turned to look at her curiously. "Kyle, I just wanted to thank you again for what you did, you know…." She gestured vaguely and smiled gratefully when he nodded. "You trusted me without pushing for an explanation, and I really appreciate that."  
  
Kyle shook his hand, grasping her hand on his arm with one of his own. "Liz, you don't have to thank me. I'm there for you, you know that."  
  
Liz smiled, squeezing his hand once before she pulled hers away. "That is exactly what Michael said to me last night," she said, laughing at Kyle's shocked jolt.  
  
"Michael?" Kyle exclaimed, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Stonewall Guerin? Was he being tortured to have to say those words?" He grinned to let her know that he was joking.  
  
"No," she protested, spluttering with laughter. "He just came right out and said it." She shook her head, still unable to believe it somewhat. "I thought that it was very nice."  
  
"Yeah, well, I suppose stranger things have happened," Kyle muttered. As Liz had before, his eyes travelled the Crashdown before halting on exactly the same place Liz's had. "Liz," he lent forward, his voice urgent. "You still have yet to tell me what happened…"  
  
"Liz," the voice beside her interrupted quietly. "Do you mind if I speak with you for a moment?"  
  
Liz glanced up, already knowing whom she would see, could already feel the turmoil of emotions she felt whenever she saw him. Max's liquid brown eyes met hers and he smiled, looking more like the Max that she used to know than he had in a long time. He darted a glance between Kyle and herself, his eyes somewhat pained despite his smile.  
  
"Liz?" Kyle asked in query. He looked Max over, his eyes suspicious despite the words spoken just the night before.  
  
"I'll talk to you later, Kyle," Liz murmured, quietly, feeling how tense Kyle was beside her.  
  
Kyle nodded slowly, easing up from his seat. "Alright, Liz. I will talk to you later." He looked at her pointedly, and Liz nodded, understanding the hidden message that he had still yet to receive an explanation of what had happened in the Crashdown the day before.  
  
"Bye, Kyle," Liz said, watching as he strode out of the cafe. Instantly, Max took his place, his face set in an impassive mask.  
  
"So, how are you?" Max asked softly.  
  
"I'm fine, thank you, Max. And you?" Liz cringed, hating the rather stilted conversation already, as she remembered the ease in which they had once spoke with.  
  
"Good. I'm….good," Max nodded, his fingers absently tracing a random pattern on the bench top. He sighed. "Look, I know that you want me to keep away from you for a while, and I respect that," he said in a rush. "I just had to see how you were, if you needed someone to talk to…" his eyes lingered on the doorway Kyle had just walked through, before turning to smile at her. "But I can see that…" He cleared his throat before continuing. "Well, I guess I had better be going."  
  
He rose, and Liz followed his actions, feeling somewhat numb. They stood uncomfortably for a moment, each feeling unusually awkward while in the presence of the other. Words unspoken remained unspoken still as Max recalled his vow to give her time.  
  
He moved along side her, his hand briefly moving to touch her hair as though he were not even aware of it before falling to his side as he remembered himself. "I don't know what I can say to make all of this go away," he confessed in agony. His hand gestured vaguely, as though to encompass all of their complications.  
  
"Then say nothing," Liz responded, "just give me time…and be my friend." She smiled faintly, her eyes flickering before dropping from his. Disheartened, Liz wondered if she was every going to get over this feeling of emptiness that encased her whenever she saw him….or whenever she was apart from him.  
  
Max opened his mouth to speak before closing it, looking away. Sighing, he turned from the slight figure before he did something he could later regret.  
  
"This has gotten awkward, hasn't it?" he attempted a slight smile.  
  
Liz nodded silently and watched as Max reluctantly walked away.  
  
****  
  
Liz trudged up the stairs and entered the apartment, having finally completed the menus as she had promised. Tracing the familiar path to her bedroom, she moved her neck stiffly, groaning softly as she did so. Her body was wearier than she would care to admit. Moving swiftly through her room and stepping through the window leading to her balcony, Liz's eyes fell to the journal that still lay neglected against the wall and silently berated herself for her carelessness.  
  
She scooped in order to pick it up, and hugged it to her chest, staring up at the sky that twinkled brightly with countless stars. Her vision blurred for a moment as tears welled in her eyes, and blindly she groped for her pen, which rested on the lounge chair, in the exact same position she had left it the night before.  
  
Bending, she wrote swiftly, her usually neat writing becoming sloppy from her standing position. She only wrote briefly before she closed the journal and entered her room, putting her journal back in its place.  
  
Liz changed, her movements exaggerated as though she concentrated on this one task, and it alone. Her steps took her to her bed, where she pulled the covers down and got into its warm comfort.  
  
Only once she was there, did she allow herself to think of what she had written.  
  
'Where was I when things became so complicated between Max and myself, or was it something that had always loomed over us, our thoughts too focused on the love we felt for each other? Were the complications something we had always played with yet essentially ignored, before we had no choice but to face it, full on?  
  
Most importantly, is it something we can work through?'  
  
Her eyes drooped and she allowed security of sleep to overtake her.  
  
****  
  
A strange type of mist swirled about her, enveloping her entire body until she could hardly see two steps in front of her. Liz frowned in bemusement, her hand rising to wave briefly in front of her face. This was so unlike any dream she had ever had before, and she was uncertain as to whether she should feel fear or not.  
  
She wandered aimlessly, her steps leading her into one direction before she doubled back to retrace her steps, unsure of where she was meant to be going. She tried to wake up, and thought for a moment that she had succeeded as the mist's thickness appeared to be thinning.  
  
Liz cried out in wonderment as the mist began to swiftly recede, its ghostly tentacles releasing her from its grasp. An outline of a body materialised in front of her, its features partially concealed by the smooth retreat of the mist, its actions revealing the form's face slowly.  
  
"Oh my God," she whispered, as the figure stepped up in front of her. 


	6. Part 6

1 [b]Part 6[/b]  
  
The figure had moved in front of her with a lanky grace that Liz knew all too well, his brown hair falling just the way she liked it. Overwhelmed, Liz could hear herself gasping, her eyes unable to look away.  
  
Alex.  
  
Alex was right in front of her, smiling gently at her.  
  
Inwardly, a part of her sneered at herself, knowing deep down that it was just a dream…but for this one moment, the subconscious part of Liz made it seem real. She wanted it to be real, wanted it with a desperation that boarded on extreme.  
  
Alex looked solemn, the unusually serious expression appearing alien when she compared it to the light hearted nature of the young man before her.  
  
"Alex," Liz whispered, her heart wrenching as a thousand memories flashed past her. The good times with Alex, the bad times…all of that was now gone, snatched away by a self absorbed blond – and a future Liz herself had helped create. She stepped forward, her face imploring. "Alex, is that you?"  
  
He smiled, with that effortless grin that lit up a place in Liz's heart that had been missing since his death. "Hello, Liz."  
  
The guilt, which had always lingered in the back of her mind like a formidable shadow, rose in full force at his words, its waves of pain crashing around her, buffeting her until her knees trembled under the pressure of holding herself up. Her mind filled with endless "if onlys". If only she had protected him better….If only she hadn't changed the future, Alex would still be alive…but the world itself would perish. She felt as though she were being pulled in too many directions at one time as her heart and mind battled.  
  
Upon hearing his voice again, Liz sobbed, throwing herself into his arms and felt them come around her in warm comfort. "Alex, I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for what I did…changing the future. Everything I changed it helped…it helped kill you." She buried her face into his chest, her shoulders heaving. "I miss you, Alex," she cried painfully, her words muffled. "I miss you so much!"  
  
Alex squeezed her tightly causing her to look up, her eyes tinged red. For a moment, she was speechless at the serenity that radiated so warmly from his manner. "Liz, you mustn't blame yourself," he told her, his voice ring with such authority that Liz could not hide her surprise as she dashed tears from her cheeks that she had not even been aware shedding.  
  
"But I do!" she cried helplessly. "I tried to make it up to you, by discounting the official story that it was suicide, but it didn't make the pain go away. It didn't bring you back! I hurt so much, Alex. I hurt so much for you." She wrenched herself from his arms, knowing that she didn't deserve his kindness. She wrapped her arms around herself, in an attempt for comfort when she knew there was none. Her throat worked painfully in time with her cries, and Liz knew this was her mourning for him, long overdue.  
  
Determined, Alex reached forward and gripped her arms, his clasp firm yet gentle as he peered into her eyes. "My death wasn't your fault, Liz. Surely within yourself you must realise that. I'm grateful that you have forced the others to discover what they were too blind to see, but I don't want you to do this to yourself anymore. Fate always plays its hand, and it was a game I lost." He smiled faintly, his eyes lighting up with a wisdom Liz didn't quite understand…a wisdom that was beyond her reach. "It happens," he told her, shrugging lightly. "It happens to good people all of the time, and there is nothing that you can do about it."  
  
Liz nodded numbly for his sake, swallowing her sobs. Her guilt was something that would always remain, Liz knew, despite his words. It would ease with time but would never fully dissipate.  
  
"Why are you here?" she whispered, stepping back from him. Her eyes swept him over, taking in the determined posture, one that spoke silently of urgency.  
  
"Liz, you can think of me as a sort of messenger…there is something that I can help you with, guide you to...and we don't have much time. I can only take you part of the way," he cautioned, releasing the clasp he had on her arm. "The rest you must take alone."  
  
He turned from her, his dark hair shining in a light that appeared to grow larger and brighter with every single moment. He faced it without hesitation, his posture speaking of confidence. Darting a grin Liz knew all too well over his shoulder, he raised his hand, palm upward, toward her.  
  
"Do you trust me?" he asked.  
  
Speechless, Liz nodded before clearing her throat to speak firmly. "Yes." She placed her hand within his own and felt the light flash brightly in response. The whiteness engulfed them and Liz closed her eyes, momentarily dizzy by its shine. When she opened them, she found Alex watching her, his manner expectant.  
  
Feeling her breath catch within her throat, Liz looked around. "Alex? What are we doing here?" she asked, blinking as her eyes grew used to the dimness around them.  
  
The impression of an enclosed space relayed a feeling of murky dampness. A soft glow emitted from four structures lined against the wall. They were in the pod chamber.  
  
"What do you see?" Alex asked, gesturing around himself, encompassing the entirety of the cave.  
  
Liz frowned, part of her confused yet another part intrigued. "I see four pods, the ones that Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess came out of."  
  
Seriously, Alex nodded, his eyes watching her facial expressions sharply. "Is that all?" he queried.  
  
"Yes," Liz said slowly, feeling more and more unsure of herself. "Alex, what is this about?"  
  
Alex smiled gently, stepping forward to brush her hair away from her face and kiss her forehead briefly before resuming his place. "It is time for you to find out, Liz. Use it well and wisely and when you are done with this life, I will be waiting for you…"  
  
Stunned, Liz cried out, her hair whipping about her face by a sudden force that was rising all about her. "Use what?" she exclaimed, fearful without knowing why. "Alex?"  
  
"Good bye, Liz. Good luck," Alex whispered.  
  
Good bye? She had only just seen him again, and already he was telling her good bye? Yet before she could question him, she felt the energy building even higher, and something told Liz that the dream was becoming unstable. "Alex!" she screamed, the sound ripped from her throat as the walls around her began to shake and the Earth trembled beneath her feet. Desperately, she tried to keep her footing as the world tilted. Through her struggles, her dazed eyes watched as Alex brought his palms together, his eyes watching his own actions intently. Briefly, his hands shone brightly and, before Liz's astounded eyes, a gleaming ball of light rose. It was a ball Liz had seen Max create, yet somewhat different.  
  
"Alex!" she screamed again, her arms outstretched in an effort to maintain her balance, a desperate act that became more fruitless by the minute as the ground rocked wildly beneath her. Alex looked up and smiled in reassurance that was tinged with desperation, his brow dotted with perspiration. Making an obvious attempt to gather his strength, he thrust his hands outward, sending the ball careening towards her. This time, her scream was soundless as she helplessly watched the ball zoom towards her. In one last desperate act, she brought her hands up to shield her face before the ball hit.  
  
Instantly upon impact, her body thrummed as though awakened to energy that she had never experienced before, the sheer strength of it so unlike the power surge she had had with Isabel, yet had a vague resemblance to one she had experienced in the Crashdown. As though guided to the thought, Liz realised that she was now tapping into her own power, her own strength that Max had left her with when he had healed her.  
  
The realisation trickled away as she mentally forced her way forward, through the cloud of confusion the surge had caused. A painful ringing echoed through her ears, at times sounding as though they were words, and at other times, sounding as though they were not.  
  
A darkness was teasing the edge of her senses and she succumbed to it, feeling herself falling back. Exhausted, Liz opened her eyes slightly. She had fallen to the ground at some point and now the side of her face lay in the dirt, her breathing causing a rhythmic burst of dust to float across the dirt floor. The darkness was rushing to her now and her eyes rolled back…but not before she saw….  
  
Liz shot up, her gasps filling the cool night air as she scrambled for the light next to her bed. It was still full dark outside, the endless black marred by the bright light of the stars. Liz shuddered, attempting to calm her breathing as she gathered her thoughts. A dream. It had all been a dream. She hadn't actually seen Alex. Her eyes damped and, roughly, she brushed at her eyes before she began to sob. Determined, she threw her covers back and got out of bed, walking towards the bathroom with determined strides. No more crying, she had had enough!  
  
Her hand reached out automatically and flicked the light on, her small bathroom filling with the brightness. Turning on the water, she cupped her hands underneath the cool liquid and brought it upward.  
  
Drip.  
  
Drip.  
  
Water filtered through her fingers, yet Liz didn't notice.  
  
Her eyes disbelieving, she was entranced by the sight of her face…her dirt smudged face.  
  
Dirt.  
  
2 Exactly where it should be, had her dream been real.  
  
3 


	7. Part 7A

1 [b]Part 7A[/b]  
  
She was still pondering the dream that was not quite a dream the next morning as she shifted from foot to foot, her hand reaching out to press the doorbell before falling back against her side. Absently, Liz rubbed at a slight headache at her temple, her eyes flying up as the door opened.  
  
"What?" the occupant growled, his tone disgruntled and husky, obviously having just gotten out of bed. Liz fought to hide her grin at his more rumpled than usual appearance, and noted with relief that his spiked hair do had made a comeback, however briefly.  
  
"Liz?" Michael said startled, before darting a quick glance over his shoulder. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Liz felt unsure of herself, her face flickering slightly with dismay. "I…" she started to say, uncomfortably.  
  
"No!" Michael interrupted quickly, seeing the brief flash of hurt. "Liz, I didn't mean it like that…"  
  
She smiled with relief that was tinged with sadness. "Its just that I don't have anyone else to talk to that would understand, or even believe, what I am just about to say." A movement behind Michael's shoulder startled her, and she couldn't help but try to glance over.  
  
"Michael, who was that?" a feminine voice called and Liz peered over his shoulder to see Maria, clad in what appeared to be one of Michael's shirts. Startled, Maria gasped at the sight of her best friend and Michael shifted uncomfortably under Liz's knowing gaze.  
  
"Hi, Liz," Maria said, raising a hand to wave as she grinned somewhat sheepishly.  
  
"Hi, Maria," Liz responded. She walked through the door and allowed Michael to close it after her, his steps then taking him to Maria's side, where he looped an arm around her waist. Bending, he whispered to her softly before jerking his head toward the bathroom, obviously telling her that was where he was headed. Liz watched him go, envious of the intimacy she had obviously disturbed and saddened by the fact that Maria had not told her.  
  
She knew that Maria did not deserve such censure. Their friendship had been one to be put on the backburner in light of everything that had been happening, and Liz now recognised that it had suffered as a result. There had been secrets Liz had kept from Maria out of necessity, just as Maria had done the same. She shook her head, and determined that from this point onwards, their friendship would regain and maintain the steady course it once had.  
  
The two girls stood silently at Michael's departure, Liz glancing sideways out of the corner of her eyes while Maria studiously looked at the walls. The air thrummed uncomfortably as each girl tried to find something to say.  
  
"I was staying at your place last night," Maria broke the ice abruptly, darting Liz a glance, as though uncertain.  
  
Liz grinned, unable to fight it back in the face of Maria using the age-old excuse. "I figured that," she drawled slightly and both girls looked at each other and giggled, any thoughts of slight uncomfortableness forgotten as years of friendship rose to the surface. Liz sighed at the memories that coursed through her as Maria flung herself into Liz's arms for an exuberant hug.  
  
"Liz, I can't believe how wonderful Michael is and how well this is working," she gushed happily, squeezing her friend as hard as she could.  
  
Liz smiled warmly and responded in kind. "I'm happy for you, Maria. I really am."  
  
Maria looked saddened, her arms dropping away as she stepped back. "I'm just sorry that you and Max…"  
  
Liz smiled painfully. "Its okay. I guess...well, it doesn't matter now. I suppose the main thing is that we are going to remain friends." She could feel Maria's burning gaze upon her and would have grinned at the familiar feeling of it if her heart hadn't been twisting so painfully. Whenever the name "Max" was mentioned….  
  
Sounds in the apartment broke her thoughts, indicating that Michael was returning, and Maria lent towards Liz quickly, her voice quiet. "Ice cream night, tonight. We will catch up."  
  
Reaching over, Liz squeezed her hand and nodded. "On everything," she whispered back and raised her eyebrows, knowing that Maria could not mistake her meaning. They both giggled, as Maria blushed.  
  
Michael walked back into the living room to discover his girlfriend and Liz clasping their stomachs as giggles erupted from their mouths. He rolled his eyes, but found himself grinning as he walked over and sat down, pulling Maria down with him. Taking his cue, Liz sat across from them.  
  
"I had a dream last night."  
  
The words were out before Liz really had a chance to form them, and the abruptness of them startled even herself. She watched as Michael's eyebrows shot up, and could almost hear his silent question of what did it have to do with them. She raised a hand before he could open his mouth, and spoke quickly.  
  
"It was about Alex," Liz whispered, and heard Maria gasp. "At first I thought it was my own feelings of guilt that had made me dream of him, but I know…." She broke off from that train of thought, deciding to tell them of the dirt later. Her voice grew more urgent. "Maria, Michael, he was telling me something, something that I should know. The dream was confusing, yet also somewhat clear. It was as though a gateway…."  
  
"A gateway for what?" Michael asked impatiently, unable to stop himself from interrupting.  
  
Liz looked up, startled. She had not meant to say that, meant only to think it yet the words must have slipped out regardless. "To power," she finished uncomfortably, and shifted in her seat. She could recall everything in her dream with perfect clarity, except for that last image, the one that she had seen too briefly before falling into darkness. Her head dropped and her eyes closed as she tried to visualise it.  
  
Michael looked concerned. "Liz, are you okay?" he asked, and felt Maria tense beside him.  
  
Her head shot up, her eyes burning with a heat that made both Michael and Maria flinch back, her anger was so intense. "Michael, we have to get everyone together – and we have to go to the pod chamber. We have to go right now!" 


	8. Part 7B

1 [b]Part 7B[/b]  
  
Her knuckles still stung in response to her urgent knock upon the wooden door. Liz glanced behind her to where Michael sat on his rumbling motorcycle, Maria grasping his waist for grim death behind him. Liz waved them on, and with a gunning of the engine, Michael and Maria were off. Turning back to face the door, Liz could hear fumbling at the door locks and almost breathed a sigh of relief at the sight in front of her as the door swung open.  
  
A rumpled Max stood in the opening, his fingers clutching a cereal bowl filled to the brim. His eyes widened at the sight of Liz and he quickly swallowed, almost choking in his haste.  
  
"Liz!" he exclaimed, and looked self consciously down at himself. Unable to help herself, Liz glanced down also and was rewarded by the sight of Max in a tight shirt that clung to his chest like a second skin. His muscular legs were encased in a pair of boxer shorts and Liz blushed, jerking her head upwards again. Max's eyes were amused as they met hers.  
  
"Do you want to come in?" he asked, gesturing with his bowl carefully.  
  
Liz nodded and stepped inside, her body automatically relaxing in the calming atmosphere of the Evans home. She heard the door close behind her and she turned, watching as Max glanced over at her, his eyes worried.  
  
"Liz, is everything okay?" he asked quietly, placing the bowl on a nearby stand.  
  
"Max, I'm sorry to come here so early in the morning, but..." she broke off as Max came towards her, his hands reaching out to cup her shoulders tenderly.  
  
"Liz, you know that you can come here anytime," he said quietly before releasing her, one of his hands gently caressing her shoulder before moving away.  
  
Liz nodded, speechless for a moment. They had gone through so much together, yet he still had the power to render her incapable of logical thought. She shook her head and focused her thoughts on the reason why she had come. "Max, you need to go and get dressed. We need to go to the pod chamber."  
  
Max was startled at the urgency in her voice and he frowned, worried that something had happened without his knowledge. Before he could speak, Isabel came down the stairs, her footsteps light before faltering when she saw Liz.  
  
"Liz?" she asked in confusion, one corner of her mouth curving upwards as she saw the unblinking stare both Max and Liz seemed to be enthralled under. She knew this was what Maria called their "soulmate" look, yet had not really witnessed it herself.  
  
"Get dressed, Isabel," Max murmured, tearing his eyes away from Liz's and heading towards the stairs. "We are going to the pod chamber."  
  
****  
  
Max rejoined an impatient Liz ten minutes later, his body now fully dressed. "Michael and Maria?" he questioned, his hand reaching towards the phone.  
  
"They should already be there," Liz responded, watching as Isabel walked down the stairs, flawlessly dressed even though she knew where they were going.  
  
"Kyle?" Max asked and Liz shook her head. Dialling quickly, Max told the sleepy young man where they were going and that he was to meet them there. Kyle had no time to voice a protest before Max hung up, his hand already reaching for a set of near by keys.  
  
As though on cue, Diane walked through the kitchen doorway, her gaze startled when she took in the sight of three teenagers impatiently shifting near the front door.  
  
"Mom," Max started holding up the keys. "Isabel and Liz are making me go shopping with them. Can we borrow your car?" He rolled his eyes and tried give the impression of a hard done by brother/friend and knew when his mother laughed that he had succeeded.  
  
"That's fine, Max." Diane smiled at Liz Parker, who blushed lightly and smiled in return. "Now you two girls, try not to wear him out too much!"  
  
The two girls nodded, inching towards the door as though eager to get started. "We won't!" they chorused, before looking at each other, startled that they had spoken in unison.  
  
With Max, they all sung out goodbyes before heading towards the car.  
  
****  
  
Diane watched as her son and daughter followed Liz Parker out the front door. Smiling, she walked over and peeked out of one of the windows, telling herself that what she was doing was not called spying; merely motherly concern.  
  
She watched as her quiet son glanced over at Liz, his gaze lingering and smiled knowingly. "Liz Parker," she said quietly to herself. That had been a name increasingly mentioned in the Evans household, despite Max's almost desperate need for privacy. It was usually a name that brought a pink tinge to Max's ears, a sure sign that he was embarrassed. Her son had finally started to become a normal teenage boy she had wanted him to be, not the quietly aloof young man he had been previously, and Diane knew that she had Liz to thank for that.  
  
Strangely, however, all mentions of Liz had ceased when the blond had entered the scene. Tess, Diane recalled her name to be and grimaced lightly. There had always been something about that girl that Diane just did not like, yet she could not place exactly what it was. No matter. She had not seen the blond in weeks now.  
  
No, Diane decided to herself, watching as they pulled out of the driveway. Liz was just right for her son.  
  
****  
  
The trip out to the pod chamber was swift, the ride silent as Liz stared blankly out the window, lost in thought. Together, Max and Isabel darted concerned glances towards her, yet knew their questions would be halted until the group was all together. Soon, they were pulling up beside Michael's motorcycle and Kyle's car, the occupants of whom awaited for them anxiously.  
  
"What are we here for?" Kyle asked, yawning mightily as he did so. He had been awoken from deep sleep by Max's telephone call, and he was eager to seek out his bed again to gain some much needed sleep.  
  
Liz didn't answer, merely made her way up the crest towards the entrance of the chamber. Frowning, the rest followed, picking their way carefully over the loose rocks and debris that surrounded the area. Nothing had been disturbed since they had last been there, the entrance to the chamber remaining clear from haphazardly piled rocks.  
  
Halting, Liz turned towards the group, nodding slightly in the direction of Michael and Maria. "I spoke to them both this morning," she began and discreetly did not mention how the meeting had come about. "I had a dream last night, one that had seemed so real that for a moment I doubted that it was a dream. It was about Alex."  
  
Isabel gasped and Liz looked at the blond in sympathy. Isabel's lips trembled and her eyes watered with tears, yet she bade Liz to go on.  
  
"When I woke, I could remember everything perfectly – the mist that covered as far as my eyes could see, Alex and his words to me, his actions. I remembered that he took me to the pod chamber, and what happened there. I remembered everything, except for one thing…" Liz knew that she was babbling slightly, and her eyes pleaded with them for patience and understanding. The group remained silent, still as they watched the brunette in front of them, their eyes trusting.  
  
"I couldn't remember what I had last seen," Liz remarked quietly. "Even though I knew that it was the most important, I just couldn't remember. It wasn't until I was at Michael's when it came to me." Nodding her head, she silently asked Max to open the chamber and his eyes worried, Max complied.  
  
The door opened with a barely audible whoosh, the quick expelling of air brushing past Liz and blowing her hair around her shoulders.  
  
As each stepped inside, they saw what they had expected to see, the scattering of rocks flung in every direction, the enclosed space appearing as though threatening as they picked their way carefully across the cave. The soft glow of the pulsating pods seemed to grow brighter still as Max, Michael and Isabel edged instinctively closer to the pod that was their own.  
  
Liz waited until she was the last one to step through the doorway, her action graceful as she went through. Her eyes struggled to adjust swiftly to the sudden dimness as she straightened, looking about her. The world tilted dizzily and Liz's head swam, her steps faltering. Briefly, her eyes closed, willing herself to regain control. When she at last opened her eyes, she opened them to a whole new world, a world that Alex had tried to show her. Before her was the image that she had last seen in her dream, so unmistakably real that Liz's breath gasped for a moment.  
  
Stunned, Liz moved forward, her steps heading erringly towards the pod placed slightly away from the others, its glow not as bright. Her eyes narrowed in thought as she stood before it, her head cocked slightly to the side as she contemplated her next move. Behind her, her friends shifted uncomfortably, still unaware of the reason why they were there.  
  
"Liz, what are you doing?" Isabel questioned, a confused smile playing upon her lips. She darted a quick glance over to Max and saw that he watched Liz worriedly.  
  
"Quick," Liz answered, not even looking at them, merely allowing her eyes to remain fixed in front of her. "Tell me what you see." She raised her hand, her fingers outstretched as though to grasp at something the others could not yet see.  
  
"Umm…you have your hand on a pod," Michael said slowly, watching Liz warily. He clamped a hand upon Maria's shoulder, stopping her movements when she would have gone up to her friend. Silently, he shook his head at her when she whipped around, her mouth open to scold.  
  
Nodding her head, Liz stared straight ahead for a moment, thoughtfully. Turning, she faced the group who all watched her with varying degrees of attentiveness.  
  
"There is nothing here," she said quietly, undisturbed by the startled exclamations her comment had produced.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Kyle asked, finally speaking. "I can see you….you have your hand on that…thing."  
  
"No, I don't," Liz said firmly before turning and walking to the opposite side of the cave to touch the rock wall. Startled gasps behind her told Liz that she had made her point. In order to touch that particular section of the wall, she had to have walked through the pod itself.  
  
Max blinked as the image of the pod wavered as Liz walked towards it, and faded as she walked through it. She did it all without pausing, nor hesitating.  
  
"How did you know?" Max asked, hoarsely.  
  
Liz turned, reaching her arms about her as though to encompass the entire cave. "This was my dream," she said quietly. "This was the last image that Alex had shown me, the one that I couldn't remember."  
  
The cave, once filled with four pods, now only held three as the image of one was dissolved and faded, the thrall of the mind warp banished forever.  
  
"It was Tess' pod, wasn't it?" Liz asked Max quietly.  
  
Max looked sick, swallowing thickly a couple of times before finally nodding his head. "It was hers," he confirmed in a low voice.  
  
"Oh my God," Maria whispered. She wrung her hands, her knuckles showing white, silently wishing for her cypress oil. She longed for the calming scent to invade her nose and fill her senses.  
  
"Here," Michael said, thrusting a hand into his jacket pocket and withdrawing a small vial which Maria gratefully accepted. Unstopping the bottle, Maria breathed in deep, sighing in relief.  
  
"Max, she wasn't one of us," Isabel said, her voice shocked. It was one thing, she knew, to be betrayed by one of your own, but it was quite another to discover that she wasn't even one of them to begin with.  
  
Max nodded grimly, his eyes focused on the area where Tess' pod had once stood. "Everything has been a lie," he murmured half to himself, half to the group that surrounded him.  
  
Kyle's face flushed red with his fury. "God help your planet," he snarled at Max, "when you are so easily duped by a blond who bats her eyelashes and makes you believe anything she wants you to!"  
  
Liz stepped in between them, holding up her hands to stop the bristling boys. "Guys, stop!" she commanded, deliberately making her voice louder than it would have normally been. "This is not helping. Kyle, you know that the ability Tess had was very powerful, and I suppose it shouldn't surprise us that she would use it at full force. Max, Kyle, now is not the time for fighting."  
  
Both young men nodded, their bodies relaxing slightly yet their eyes still following the other resentfully.  
  
"How did you know this?" Max asked, turning towards Liz.  
  
"Alex showed me the way, the way to access the power you gave me when you healed me. I hadn't even realised it was there, otherwise this might never have happened," she answered.  
  
"Wait, wait. What is your power?" Kyle asked.  
  
Liz swallowed. "I think it is the ability to see beyond the mind warp, to see the truth that lay underneath." She glanced over at Maria who sniffed her oil repeatedly, her expression nervous. "I'm not anything like you guys," she said, although she directed her comment to Maria, knowing that she needed the reassurance that her best friend was still the same. "I guess…well, do you remember what Ava said? She said that I had been changed as part of the healing." Liz winced as she watched Maria's eyes grow bigger at the sound of the word "change" and tried to retract her words somewhat. "But my powers would only be residual," she theorised out loud.  
  
"Like Kyle," Isabel said helpfully and Liz nodded in response, appreciative of Isabel's assistance.  
  
"Could this have been what had happened in the Crashdown the other day?" Kyle queried. "It felt as though you were…reading me."  
  
"I think so, I mean, I had had a continuous strange feeling for the past few weeks, but it was only after my dream with Alex when I realised what was really happening," Liz said slowly. She allowed a small smile to crease her lips as she remembered her dream. "He threw a ball of light at me," she confided, yet remained silent on the rest of her dream, wishing that it remained private. "It was like a symbolic way to open up my mind to something I wasn't accepting." Liz laughed slightly. "Don't get me wrong, it scared the hell out of me. But I'm glad that he did it."  
  
She sobered, looking at her friends that surrounded her, their faces pale. "Look, I knew that something was strange about how Max was describing your entrance into the world the other night, yet the reason why eluded me. It suddenly clicked on the way to here – Max, when you had first told me about exiting the pods, you said that you were just like ordinary kids. There was nothing ever mentioned about green goo, or anything else for that matter."  
  
Max nodded slowly. He vaguely recalled telling Liz that, and he knew that there was no mention of the slime they had had to break through, yet the other memory seemed so much more clearer. His jaw clenched as he realised and Max looked at Michael and Isabel. "Tess mind warped us," he said, his voice distorted slightly due to the compression of his jaw.  
  
Michael nodded tightly, his eyes hooded yet Max could feel the anger simmering underneath. Isabel looked horrified.  
  
"How are we supposed to know what is real, and what is not?" she whispered.  
  
Liz stepped forward. "Me," she said simply.  
  
Michael stepped forward also, cradling Maria within the circle of his arms. "Well, thank God we have you on our side," he said, trying to joke lightly.  
  
The group smiled half heartedly and, by unspoken agreement, moved towards the chamber entrance. An inhalation of breath from Liz stopped them, and Max turned to see Liz swaying slightly, her eyes closed.  
  
She could hear words about her, fuzzy and indistinct, yet could not make out what they were saying. In frustration, Liz gave up on trying to decipher them, focusing instead on the images in front of her, the images of Max and Tess.  
  
Liz knew that this was the final confrontation between the two, judging from Max's angry movements and Tess' trembling. She watched as Max gestured towards the Granolith, his actions clearly telling her to go. Tess stepped forward, her expression imploring only to have Max shrug her off.  
  
For a brief moment, Tess' face flickered into an expression of fear before sly cunning took its place. As Liz watched in horror, Tess closed her eyes briefly, appearing as though to concentrate for a moment, her face straining with the effort. Before long, Liz watched as Max gestured once more towards the Granolith, and knew that he was again telling her to get inside it.  
  
Staring unblinking, Liz observed Tess make a furtive movement, as though in trial before grinning broadly when Max remained non-reactive. She slunk over to the corner of the cave, her eyes carefully watching for any sign of a response from Max. Max remained with his eyes fixed on the Granolith, and he appeared to stand there for what seemed an extensive amount of time.  
  
Finally, Liz could feel the ground rumble beneath her feet, and knew from the way Max scurried out of the chamber that he had felt the same. With a powerful burst, the Granolith lifted into the air, shooting up into the sky and leaving behind a rain of rocks and debris in its wake.  
  
That is what Max saw.  
  
Liz saw something quite different. She watched as the glow of the Granolith dimmed once Max had exited the chamber, its position remaining firm upon the chamber floor. The rocks surrounding the area remained solidly in place, a silent testament to what had really happened.  
  
And Liz watched as Tess waited until time had passed before escaping the chamber and running off into the desert.  
  
Her eyes snapped open to confront her reality, her mouth opening and closing in time with her gasps. Around her surrounded the concerned gazes of her friends, and Liz smiled to reassure them, before letting the smile drop.  
  
"Tess is still on Earth," Liz revealed, and felt her body tremble. 


End file.
